Now for something completely different. Yesterday I was at a school in Brent, writes Sarah Teather.
My week in school is actually six days in different schools. As I explained on Monday, I wanted at least some time observing anonymously where no one knew me. But I also wanted to find out more about the challenges and benefits of learning in my own area.
So, yesterday I was at John Kelly girls' technology college in Brent, today I am back in the outskirts of London, Friday I shall be in a school for pupils with special needs and one day next week I'll be at another comprehensive school in Brent.
And it certainly felt different yesterday. For a start, John Kelly must have some of the worst buildings in the country. The temporary classrooms were built to take the wave of immigrants when Idi Amin expelled Indians from Uganda in 1972. They were a short-term fix, and not fit for purpose even then. The temporary buildings are still standing. Just.
This school badly needs a new home.
But in spite of the shocking state of the buildings, John Kelly is one of the best schools in the country, according to Ofsted. This school turns around life chances for young people. Many of the teenagers arrive speaking little or no English. Often their immigration status is uncertain. Some arrive without family, having suffered considerable trauma.
And they come from all over the world. About 130 languages are spoken in the playground, and 60% of the students are Muslim.
Yesterday, on the outskirts of London, in a school where non-white, non-Christian children are really in the minority, the headteacher led an assembly on Ramadan, to broaden minds about other faiths and cultures.
Today, in Brent, most of the students are observing Ramadan, the month of fasting for Muslims. The cafeteria was almost entirely deserted at lunchtime. Ramadan, like Lent, moves in the calendar year. If it falls early, the days are longer and schools need to be sensitive to concentration and mood changes until the youngsters' bodies acclimatise to the rhythm of rising at dawn to eat.
Problems with drugs and alcohol, however, are much lower at John Kelly than at many other schools - probably due in part to cultural attitudes among students.
And behaviour was good. I saw one rowdy Year 9 class, but it was the only bad behaviour I witnessed all day. Thirteen is probably a funny age - you're not a child anymore, but you're certainly not yet an adult, and you don't have the focus of GCSEs to keep you in check.
This school has significant challenges, however. Sitting in on one maths class, the language difficulties for some students were very apparent. How can you grasp difficult mathematical concepts if you are struggling with English? And some students were clearly also struggling with the concepts. They will require attention, patience and time.
I saw some fantastic teaching though. The Year 7 science lesson working through the abstract concepts of variables and the experimental approach was captivating.
The citizenship lesson with a brand new teacher also stuck in my mind: Year 8 were discussing crime in Brent, how to prevent it, why people don't report it, and what the government, or community could do to improve things. That offered an opportunity for me to talk to the students about what they would want their MP to do.
Young people often have such sensible and practical solutions to problems. It beats me why we don't harvest their ideas more often.
Sarah Teather is the Liberal Democrats' education spokeswoman
